After Poland, Romania denounces the Intrusion of a Russian Drone into its Airspace, a “New Security Challenge”

Romania on Sunday condemned the entry of a Russian drone from its airspace, a few days after a spectacular intrusion by Russian drones into Polish skies.

Romania, a NATO member country, “strongly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and emphasizes that they represent a new challenge for regional security and stability in the Black Sea region”, its statement said on Sunday Defense Ministry. “Such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation’s lack of respect for international law”, he added.

Romania reported on Saturday evening that its airspace had been violated by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighboring Ukraine. The intrusion took place four days after that of 19 Russian drones into Polish skies, the first of its kind since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

F-16s “detected a drone in national airspace”, which flew for about 50 minutes over the east of the country, from the village of Chilia Veche, before leaving national airspace near the town of Pardina, towards Ukraine, according to the press release. “The pilots received permission to shoot down the target, but when they had direct contact, they assessed the collateral risks and decided not to open fire”. They have had the possibility since a law adopted in February by the upper house of the Romanian Parliament which allows the country to shoot down drones that violate its space. Romanian planes received help from their German allies with “two Eurofighter Typhoon planes” which monitored the area, the ministry added.

Poland and NATO deploy their planes

Poland and NATO deployed helicopters and fighter jets on Saturday due to Russian drone strikes in Ukraine not far from the Polish border, the country’s authorities said. “Due to the threat of strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles (drones, editor’s note) in the regions of Ukraine bordering the Republic of Poland […], Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and the systems land air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached their highest alert level”, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said on X. Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said helicopters were also involved.

“A reckless escalation that threatens regional security. “

Last night, Romanian Foreign Minister Toiu Oana said on X that she would “raise the issue of Russia’s actions at the UN General Assembly, urging strict compliance with international sanctions”. The intrusion is “unacceptable”, according to the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, who hastened to denounce on Sunday on X a “reckless escalation” which “threatens regional security”.

“We are ready to teach all our partners how to defend themselves. Everyone sees clearly that the Russians are studying ways to bring war to Poland and the Baltic States. The Russian army is also testing Romania.”

“We are ready to teach all our partners how to defend themselves. Everyone sees clearly that the Russians are studying ways to bring war to Poland and the Baltic States. The Russian army is also testing Romania”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented in the evening.

Donald Trump said on Saturday that he was ready to take new sanctions against Russia, but on the condition that NATO countries stop buying Russian oil. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, the EU imposed a ban on most oil imports from Russia. But the Druzhba (“friendship” in Russian) pipeline was temporarily exempted to give Central European countries time to find new solutions.

Hungary and Slovakia, both EU members, continue to import Russian oil through the pipeline, which has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian strikes in recent weeks.